Clearstream scandal: a happy end?

Former French PM Dominique de Villepin was cleared this week by an appeals court of conspiring to smear his arch-rival, President Nicolas Sarkozy, in the 'Clearstream' case. But this doesn't mean he can rest on his laurels: Villepin is now accused by a former middleman of taking envelopes of 'dirty' cash from African leaders.

A graduate of Sciences Po Paris and Columbia University, he was a journalist in New York for ten years before joining FRANCE 24 in 2009. He is specialised in French politics, Africa and the Middle East.